Ministry of Railways under its “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks” initiative has recently launched
- Rail Tech Policy: To engage innovators, startups, industry and institutions to promote innovation in Indian Railways.
- e-RCT System: For End-to-End Digitisation of Railway Claims Tribunal
Rail Tech Policy Reform
- Objective: To engage innovators, startups, industry and institutions to promote innovation in Indian Railways.
- It simplifies the selection of innovators and introduces a dedicated “Rail Tech Portal” for innovation.
- Innovation challenges can be initiated by any innovator or departmental user, with a single-stage detailed submission of proposals.
- It provides a user-friendly interface, increases the scale-up grant more than three times and doubles the maximum grant for prototype development and trials.
Key innovation areas include:
- AI-based Elephant Intrusion Detection System (EIDS), AI-based fire detection system in coaches, drone-based broken rail detection system, rail stress monitoring system, sensor-based load calculation device on parcel vans (VPUs), solar panels on coaches, AI-based coach cleaning monitoring system, obstruction detection in foggy environments, and AI-based pension and dispute resolution systems.
Rail Tech Portal:
- t has been launched to engage Innovators, Startups, Industry and Institutions to promote Innovation in Indian Railways and Digitization of Procedures in Claims Tribunal Announced as Third & Fourth Reform
E-RCT system
- Enables end-to-end computerisation and digitisation of the Railway Claims Tribunal.
- Transform the filing, processing and adjudication of claims by making the process faster, more transparent and accessible from anywhere in the country.
- It will digitally connect all 23 Benches on a single platform and enable:
- Paperless court functioning
- Digitised case lifecycle
- Online exchange of pleadings and notices
- Daily order and judgement pronouncement online
- Hybrid hearings (physical + virtual mode) in compliance with the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s direction
- The system also includes a revamped dynamic microsite for all RCT Benches, promoting transparency and public access to information.
- Key Modules of e-RCT: The platform comprises three core components
- E-Filing
- Case Information System (CIS)
- Document Management System (DMS)